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June
Taiwan rebuffs Philippines complaint about S.China Sea live fire drills
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan on Wednesday rebuffed a complaint from the Philippines about live fire drills around a Taiwan-controlled island deep in the South China Sea, saying it had the right to do so and always gives issues a warning of its exercises.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, in a message on Twitter late on Tuesday, lodged a "strong objection over the unlawful live fire drills" to be carried out by Taiwan this week around the island, known internationally as Itu Aba.
Taiwan calls the island Taiping and the Philippines calls it Ligaw Island.
The department said the island belonged to the Philippines.
"This illegal activity raises tensions and complicates the situation in the South China Sea," it said.
Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement the island was part of the territory of the Republic of China - Taiwan's formal name - and that it enjoyed all relevant rights accorded by international law.
"Our country has the right to conduct routine exercises on Taiping Island and related maritime areas. In order to ensure the safety of maritime traffic and fishing boats operating in adjacent maritime areas, we notify the relevant regional countries in advance before each live-fire drill," it said.
Itu Aba is the biggest feature in the Spratly Islands, a grouping of islets and other features also claimed, entirely or in part, by China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Philippines normally complains most vociferously about China's activities in the South China Sea, including what Manila says is illegal fishing. read more
The Philippines, like most countries, has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan but there are close cultural and economic links and Taiwan is home to about 160,000 Filipinos, most of them migrant workers.
The maps China bases its South China Sea claims on date to when Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China government ruled China before it fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong's Communists.
Taiwan also controls the Pratas Islands at the very northern end of the South China Sea. (Reuters)
June
South Korea violated the rights of deported North Korean fishermen - U.N. investigator
Written by Nur Yasmin
South Korea's 2019 decision to deport without legal process two North Korean fishermen suspected of murdering their shipmates violated human rights principles, a U.N. investigator said on Wednesday, after prosecutors reopened the case.
South Korean activists had called on new President Yoon Suk-yeol to reinvestigate the case, blaming the previous government of trying to curry favour with Pyongyang amid denuclearisation negotiations and efforts at rapprochement.
While the fate of the two men is unconfirmed, there was an expectation their rights would be violated when they were turned over to North Korean authorities, and therefore Seoul had an obligation to process them in the South Korean justice system rather than immediately repatriate them, Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in North Korea, told reporters.
"These are extremely dramatic cases because once a person is repatriated there is no reversal," he said. "The (South Korean) government should not have repatriated these persons right away."
Former President Moon Jae-in's administration deported the fishermen, describing them "dangerous criminals" who killed 16 other colleagues aboard their vessel while crossing the sea border and said they would cause harm if they were accepted into South Korean society.
North Korea faces accusations of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests, sexual violence and forced labour. It has denied mistreating its citizens.
South Korean prosecutors have re-opened the case, Unification Minister Kwon Young-se, who handles relations with the North, told Reuters on Monday.
An official with the ministry said on Wednesday it would cooperate with the investigation.
Neither Moon, who has kept out of the public eye since leaving office, or North Korea has commented on the case.
Quintana was among several U.N. officials who sent a letter to Seoul at the time expressing concern and asking for more information. The officials also sent a letter to Pyongyang.
During this week's visit to Seoul, Quintana also met with the family of a South Korean who went missing at sea in September 2020 while working as a fishing inspector. North Korean authorities later shot him dead and set his body on fire, shocking many South Koreans and increasing cross-border tension.
That case has also been revisited by the Yoon administration, and last week South Korea's maritime and military authorities reversed their earlier announcements and said there were no signs the official was trying to defect.
His family had refuted the defection claims, filing a lawsuit calling for the disclosure of government records.
Quintana said he supported the family's right to know more from the South Korean government, adding that ultimately, North Korea was responsible for killing the official, and should also disclose information, punish those who shot him, and provide reparations to the family.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un previously made a rare apology for the killing, calling it an “unexpected and disgraceful event”, though state media said blame lay with South Korea for not controlling its borders. (Reuters)
June
Doctors, bankers protest 'impossible situation' as Sri Lanka runs out of fuel
Written by Nur Yasmin
Doctors and bankers were among hundreds of Sri Lankans who marched on Wednesday to demand the government resolve a severe fuel shortage at the heart of the Indian Ocean island's worst economic crisis in decades or step down.
Weeks of street demonstrations against cascading woes such as power cuts and shortages of food and medicine brought a change in government last month after nine people were killed and about 300 injured in protests.
Left with just enough fuel for about a week and fresh shipments at least two weeks away, the government restricted supplies on Tuesday to essential services, such as trains, buses and the health sector, for two weeks.
The prime minister's office said in a statement a government-ordered petrol shipment would arrive on July 22, while Lanka IOC (LIOC.CM), a unit of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC.NS), is expecting a shipment of petrol and diesel around July 13.
"The government is also attempting to secure fuel shipments at an early date. However, until those are confirmed, the details would not be released," the statement said.
Doctors, nurses and medical staff say that despite being designated essential workers, they struggle to find enough fuel to get to work.
"This is an impossible situation, the government has to give us a solution," H.M. Mediwatta, secretary of one of Sri Lanka's largest nursing unions, the All Island Nurses Union, told reporters.
The South Asian nation's most serious economic crisis since independence from Britain in 1948 comes after COVID-19 battered the tourism-reliant economy and slashed remittances from overseas workers.
Rising oil prices, populist tax cuts and a seven-month ban on the import of chemical fertilisers last year that devastated agriculture have compounded the troubles.
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said the World Bank had agreed to restructure 17 projects it is funding in Sri Lanka. Similar support extended earlier had been used to buy fuel and medicine.
"More World Bank assistance will follow after negotiations with the IMF are finalised," he said on Twitter.
An International Monetary Fund team is in Colombo for talks on a bailout package of as much as $3 billion. Sri Lanka hopes to reach a staff-level agreement by Thursday, but even so, it is unlikely to bring immediate funds.
"UNBEARABLE"
A march to the president's house by a trade union of bankers, teachers, and the self-employed was stopped by riot police who had thrown up barricades to guard the area.
"Things have become unbearable for the common man," said an official of a teachers' union. "We want this government to go home."
More than 100 medical staff of the national hospital in Colombo marched to the prime minister's office calling for the government to ensure fresh supplies of fuel and medicines.
Public health inspectors and other health service workers are also on strike on Wednesday and Thursday.
The island of 22 million has nearly run out of useable foreign exchange reserves to import essentials such as food, medicine, petrol and diesel.
As the crisis grows, many people have been detained trying to flee the country by boat.
The government is also looking abroad for help, to countries from the Middle East to Russia.
On Tuesday, in a bid to secure fuel, Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera met Qatar's minister of state for energy affairs and the chief executive of Qatar Energy. He is also seeking a line of credit from a Qatar development fund.
Another Sri Lankan minister will travel to Russia at the weekend in search of energy deals. (Reuters)
June
Millions risk undernourishment as wheat prices surge, FAO and OECD warn
Written by Nur Yasmin
The war in Ukraine that has stalled its wheat exports will keep global prices high into the 2022/23 season, putting millions more people at risk of undernourishment, the United Nations' food agency and the OECD said on Wednesday.
Russia and Ukraine are the world's first and fifth largest wheat exporters accounting for 20% and 10% of global sales, respectively, but Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the closure of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, nearly halted exports.
Grain exports from Ukraine are only 20% of capacity as alternative channels, such as rail and road, are not as efficient as maritime routes, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said.
FAO/OECD projections suggest that 2022/23 wheat prices could be 19% above pre-war levels if Ukraine fully loses its export capacity and 34% higher if in addition Russia's exports are reduced by half. The 2022/23 season starts July 1 in the northern hemisphere.
"With food security already under pressure the consequences would be dire, especially for the most vulnerable," OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said during a presentation of the FAO/OECD Agricultural Outlook 2022-2031.
Some 20 million tonnes of grain have to leave Ukraine by the end of next month to make room for this year's crops and avoid food shortages in Africa, the European Commission said last month. Diplomatic talks are ongoing to open up an alternative sea route.
If Russian exports were affected, undernourishment would increase by about 1% globally in 2022/23, equivalent to between about eight and 13 million people, depending on the assumed severity of the export reduction, the FAO said in a separate study.
A scenario simulating a severe export shortfall from Ukraine and Russia continuing in 2022/23 and 2023/24, and assuming no global production response, suggests an increase in the number of undernourished by close to 19 million people in 2023/24. (Reuters)
June
IAEA loses transmission from Ukraine's Russian-held nuclear power plant
Written by Nur Yasmin
The U.N. atomic watchdog said on Wednesday it had again lost its connection to its surveillance systems keeping track of nuclear material at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe's largest, which the watchdog wants to inspect.
"The fact that our remote safeguards data transmission is down again – for the second time in the past month – only adds to the urgency to dispatch this mission (to Zaporizhzhia)," the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a statement. The connection was lost on Saturday "due to a disruption of the facility's communication systems", it added. (Reuters)
June
Chief Minister of India's richest state Maharashtra resigns
Written by Nur Yasmin
The chief minister of India's western state of Maharashtra, the richest state in the country, resigned late on Wednesday, after a group in his ruling party defected to the opposition.
The resignation of Uddhav Thackeray, head of regional party Shiv Sena, will allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to form a government in the state as the defecting group transferred its allegiance to the BJP.
Maharashtra is the country's second most populous state and home to India's financial capital of Mumbai. (Reuters)
June
U.S. to boost military presence in Europe as NATO bolsters its eastern flank
Written by Nur Yasmin
U.S. President Joe Biden pledged more American troops, warplanes and warships for Europe on Wednesday as NATO agreed the biggest strengthening of its deterrents since the Cold War in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Biden's pledge at the Madrid summit "to defend every inch of allied territory" came as the U.S.-led military alliance also set in motion a new plan to reinforce the Baltic states and Poland against any future Russian attack.
With more German, British and other allied troops to be on alert to deploy eastward, the United States is also adding to the 100,000 personnel already in Europe by sending more warships to Spain, planes to Britain, pre-positioned weapons to the Baltics and more soldiers to Romania.
"We mean it when we say an attack against one is an attack against all," Biden said.
The Baltics originally sought permanent NATO bases and as much as a tenfold increase to NATO's troop presence from around 5,000 multinational soldiers prior to the Ukraine invasion, as well as adding air and maritime defences.
While what NATO agreed on Wednesday falls short of that, it means allies will keep more troops in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, send more equipment, weapons and ammunition to the region and set up a system of rapid reinforcements.
NATO leaders agreed to move towards putting more than 300,000 troops at higher readiness.
In the past, the alliance relied on a smaller number - some 40,000 troops - to be first in line to respond to any Russian attack or other crises.
"President Putin's war against Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe and has created the biggest security crisis in Europe since the Second World War," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference. "NATO has responded with strength and unity."
The United States will also create a new permanent army headquarters in Poland, which was immediately welcomed by Polish president Andrzej Duda, as Warsaw long sought a permanent U.S. military base on its soil. "It is a fact that strengthens our safety a lot ... in the difficult situation which we are in," Duda said.
NATO also agreed a long-term military and financial aid package for Ukraine, vowing to stick with Kyiv in its struggle. In central Madrid, Ukrainian refugees held a demonstration to ask NATO for more arms for their nation, which is now facing a war of attrition against superior Russian artillery in the east of the country.
Ukrainian student Kateryna Darchyk, 20, told Reuters: "We ask for NATO to give us weapons because we have soldiers, we have people ready to fight for Ukraine, men and women who are ready to protect their country."
END OF NORDIC NEUTRALITY
In addition, NATO's 30 leaders invited Finland and Sweden into the alliance, a decision that once ratified would end decades of Nordic neutrality by putting the two countries under the United States' nuclear umbrella. read more
That was made possible after Turkey dropped its veto on the two countries' progress to membership following four hours of talks on Tuesday evening in Madrid, ending weeks of drama that threatened allied unity.
As part of the deal, Sweden and Finland agreed not to support Kurdish militant groups.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan had threatened to block their bids over Ankara's accusations the two countries supported a Kurdish militia in northern Syria. Turkey views the militia as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is also deemed a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
Both Finland, which has a 1,300 km (810 mile) border with Russia, and Sweden, home of the founder of the Nobel Peace Prize, are now set to bring well-trained militaries into the alliance, possibly giving NATO Baltic Sea superiority.
"We are not yet covered by NATO's Article 5," Finland's Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto told Reuters, referring to NATO's collective defence clause. "Our aim is that period should be as short as possible," he said. (Reuters)
June
Australia commits to Pacific islands defence training as China plans rival meet
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia will set up a defence school to train Pacific island militaries, Canberra's new Pacific minister said, amid mounting competition for security ties in the region and as China lays plans for a rival meeting to next month's Pacific Islands Forum.
Australia will double its funding for aerial surveillance of the Pacific islands vast fishing zone, and provide financing for Pacific islands to build more resilient infrastructure as Pacific sea level rises are forecast to be four-times the global average, Minister for International Development and Pacific, Pat Conroy, told a Pacific conference on Tuesday.
"The Australian Government knows that the issue of security is inseparable from the issue of climate change," he said in a video address to the conference in Fiji's capital, Suva.
During the Pacific Islands Forum taking place in Suva next month, regional leaders are expected to discuss China's push to strike a trade and security deal with 10 Pacific island nations that hold diplomatic ties with China.
A leaked draft of the deal showed it covered fisheries and maritime security as well as police training.
The 18-member forum includes Australia and New Zealand, which have expressed concern at China's recent security deal struck with the Solomon Islands, as well as several nations that recognise Taiwan and not Beijing.
China, which is not a PIF member, is seeking to host a video meeting with the 10 nations it wants to sign to a multilateral pact on July 14, to coincide with the final day of the PIF leaders meeting, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The political leadership dialogue planned by the Communist Party's international department also coincides with the day a communique would be expected to be issued by the forum leaders. It is unknown if the meeting with China will go ahead, after some nations were reported to be upset by the timing.
A similar event last year was hosted by the minister for the Communist Party's international department.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters at a daily briefing in Beijing on Tuesday that questions about the meeting should be referred to "relevant competent authorities", but offered some broad comments.
"China's relations with Pacific island countries are currently developing well, with government departments, legislative bodies, political parties and civil society on both sides maintaining close contacts and cooperation," he said.
He noted that the PIF had suspended an annual meeting traditionally held during the forum for non-member countries regarded as dialogue partners, including China and the United States.
"We fully respect the decision of the PIF side to suspend the dialogue event this year and will maintain close communication with the discussants on the follow-up arrangements," he added.
Tensions between China and the island states that hold diplomatic ties with Taiwan were highlighted when Tuvalu's foreign minister withdrew from a United Nations oceans conference on Monday after China blocked three Taiwanese members in the Tuvalu delegation from attending.
Conroy said the Pacific Islands Forum had brought the region together for 50 years, and it was "the heart of Pacific regionalism".
Ahead of the meeting, he outlined the new Australian government's commitments to support the region, including an Australia Pacific Defence School would provide training for defence and security forces.
The pledge, first made at the election, to double funding for aerial surveillance of the Pacific exclusive economic zones would increase maritime security and recoup US$150 million lost each year to illegal fishing, he said. (Reuters)
June
Tokyo June heatwave worst since 1875 as power supply creaks under strain
Written by Nur Yasmin
Japan baked under scorching temperatures for a fourth successive day on Tuesday, as the capital's heat broke nearly 150-year-old records for June and authorities warned power supply remained tight enough to raise the spectre of cuts.
The heatwave comes less than two weeks before a national election in which prices, including the cost of electricity, are among key issues picked by voters in opinion polls that show the government's approval rating slipping - with politicians including Tokyo's governor urging power price cuts.
Temperatures in the capital hit 35.1 C by 1 p.m local time on Tuesday (0400 GMT), after three successive days of temperatures topping 35 C - the worst streak of hot weather in June since records began in 1875. And the heatwave isn't about to break: the Japan Meteorological Agency forecast highs of 36 C for Tokyo on Thursday and 35 C on Friday.
With heatstroke alerts issued in some areas of the country for Tuesday, cases of hospitalisation rose, with emergency services saying 76 people were taken to hospital in Tokyo.
Many in the capital and elsewhere continue to flout government advice to reduce heatstroke risks by not wearing face masks outdoors - a legacy of more than two years of widespread mask wearing in public settings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We're telling people that when they're outside, can take sufficient distance and aren't talking, they should take off their masks," health minister Shigeyuki Goto told a news conference.
For a second day, authorities asked consumers in the Tokyo area to conserve electricity to avoid a looming power cut - but in moderation.
"Apparently there are some elderly people who have turned off their air conditioners because we are asking people to save energy, but please - it's this hot - don't hesitate about cooling off," trade and industry minister Koichi Hagiuda told a news conference.
The reserve ratio for Tokyo during the evening (1630-1700) on Tuesday was expected to fall below 5% as of Monday evening, close to the minimum of 3% that ensures stable supply, in Tokyo and eight surrounding prefectures. Reserve capacity below 3% risks power shortages and blackouts.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said predictions had improved slightly, but still called for consumers to be economical with power use. It warned that supplies would still be tight on Wednesday.
Monday's warning prompted government offices, including METI, to turn off some lights in the afternoon and evening, with METI halting use of 25% of elevators in its building.
Electronics stores took similar steps, shutting off televisions and other goods on sales floors that would normally be kept on to lure buyers, and some Tokyo residents said on social media they were turning off all appliances not in use.
But politicians began to call for further steps.
Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike attended a meeting of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) (9501.T) shareholders on Tuesday, later saying she had called for price cuts, Fuji News Network reported. TEPCO provides power to the greater Tokyo region.
Though expected to do well in the July 10 election for the upper house of parliament, Kishida's ruling party faces headwinds from rising prices, worsened by a slide in the value of the yen that makes imports more costly.
The Kishida cabinet's approval came to 50% in a voter survey conducted by public broadcaster NHK on June 24-26, down from 55% last week.
Natsuo Yamaguchi, head of the junior partner in Kishida's coalition government, warned on Monday in a campaign speech that citizens were risking heatstroke by trying to economise on power.
"What I would really like is for the government to tell power companies to lower costs," he was quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying.
Economically, the heat could be a double-edged sword, said Yoshiki Shinke, senior executive economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.
"Scorching heat is said to boost private consumption during summertime through higher sales of beverages and home appliances ... but excessive heat can curb consumption," he added, noting that people stay indoors and vegetable prices rise. (Reuters)
June
Kazakh tycoon gives up stake in major oil trader
Written by Nur Yasmin
Kazakh billionaire businessman Timur Kulibayev has handed to the state energy company his stake of 49% in Petrosun, a large oil and oil products trader controlled by China's CNPC, Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar said on Tuesday.
Petrosun buys and refines the lion's share of Kazakh crude that is not produced and marketed by Western oil majors, before selling it on the local market.
Sklyar did not give a reason for the decision by Kulibayev, a son-in-law of former president Nursultan Nazarbayev. Kulibayev could not be immediately reached for comment.
In April, another Nazarbayev relative, his nephew Kairat Satybaldy, handed to the government a stake of 29% in telecoms firm Kazakhtelecom after being arrested on charges of embezzlement and abuse of office.
Nazarbayev, who resigned in 2019 but had retained sweeping powers as the head of security council, lost that position during violent unrest in January.
His successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has since set up a panel to tackle monopolies and seize assets seen to have been privatised improperly. (Reuters)